Pierce County, WA Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)
Key Facts
- Minimum parcel size
- 10 acres or larger
- Soil requirement
- Prime or unique soils per USDA surveys
- Adjacency limit
- Not 50%+ bordered by 1-acre lots
- Notice recorded with
- Pierce County Auditor
- Governing chapter
- PCC 18I.30, adopted Ord. 97-84 (1997)
Summary
Unincorporated Pierce County protects farmland by classifying parcels of ten acres or more on prime or unique soils as Agricultural Lands, restricting nearby development. Owners of these parcels must record title and plat notices warning buyers about dust, noise, odor and chemical spraying from nearby commercial farming.
Agricultural Lands are those lands meeting all of the following criteria: a. Lands in parcels which are ten acres or larger in size; b. Lands which are on prime or unique soils as identified in: (1) United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Soil Conservation Service. February 1979, Soil Survey of Pierce County Area, Washington; or (2) USDA, Soil Conservation Service, June 1981, Important Farmlands of Pierce County, Washington; c. Lands which are primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, or livestock...; and d. Lands which are not adjacent to lots of record of one acre or less on more than 50 percent of the perimeter of the parcel.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-515, and legislation passed through May 26, 2026).
Full Breakdown
30 designates Agricultural Lands to limit encroachment of incompatible development onto productive farmland. 020, a parcel qualifies as Agricultural Land only if it meets four criteria together: the parcel is ten acres or larger, it sits on prime or unique soils identified in the 1979 USDA Soil Survey of Pierce County or the 1981 USDA Important Farmlands survey, it is primarily used for commercial production of crops such as horticultural, viticultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable or animal products, berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees, or livestock, and it is not adjacent to one-acre-or-smaller lots on more than half its perimeter.
Rural land outside an Urban Growth Area can request a Comprehensive Plan redesignation to Agricultural under Title 19C PCC procedures. 030 requires the owner to record a title notice with the Pierce County Auditor whenever a regulated-activity permit application is submitted, warning that farm chemicals, spraying, pruning and harvesting may cause dust, smoke, noise and odor, and stating that agriculture is a priority use. 050 requires the Planning and Public Works Department to attach the identical notice to every regulated-activity permit issued in the zone.
These notification duties, first adopted by Ordinance 97-84 in 1997, run with the land and put future buyers on formal notice before they purchase near active farm operations.
Violations & Fines
Failing to record the required title or plat notification does not itself carry a fine schedule in this chapter; the notice requirement is enforced through the Planning and Public Works Department's permit review, meaning a regulated-activity permit or plat approval can be withheld or delayed until the notice is recorded with the Pierce County Auditor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes land count as Agricultural in Pierce County zoning?
Do I have to warn buyers if my land is zoned Agricultural?
Can rural land outside an Urban Growth Area become Agricultural zoned?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pierce County
Compare Pierce County to another location·View the Washington right to farm overview
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